Acetylene-gas lamp.



No. 688,926. Patented Dec. I7, |90l. A. L. BUFFINGTUN.

AcETYLENE GAS LAMP..Y

(Application filed Feb. 19, 1900.)

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ACETYLENE-GAS LAM P.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 688,926, dated December 17, 1901.

Original application filed January 20, 1898, Serial No. 667,275. Divided and this application filed February 19, 1900. Serial No. 5.674. h(No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ALVIN L. BUFFINGTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Acetylene-Gas Lamps; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its immediate object to provide an improved acetylene-gas lamp especially adapted for use on bicycles; and to this end it consists of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described, and defined in the claim.

This case is filed as a division of my pending case, Serial No. 667,275,- filed January 20, 1898, entitled "Acetylene-gas-generating lamp.

The preferred form of my invention, designed as a bicycle-lamp, is illustrated in thel accompanying drawings. Therein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved bicycle-lamp. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the lamp. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 503003 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4. is a vertical section taken on the line x4 x4 of Fig. 3.

It will be noted that in the construction shown the lamp, taken as an entirety, forms a true or nearly true sphere or ball. A lamp having this exterior appearance I do not, of course, claim in this application, as the same is the proper subject-matter for a design patent.

The main body portion of the lamp is made up of a metallic zone a and a concentric cylindrical section a', which is spaced apart inward of the saine, but connected therewith at its ends to form a Water-containing compartment a2. At its top the annu-lar water-compartment d2 is provided with a water-inlet passage a3, that is normally closed by means of a plug a4, provided with very small airvents a5. The bottommost portions of the sections a and a are connected, preferably near their central portions, by means of a thimble co5, that is provided with a screw-threaded needle-valve b. Lateral perforations a7 lead to the needle-point of the valve from the Water-compartment a2, and a capillary passage as leads from the needle-valve seat into the bottom of the cylindrical chamber or compartment formed Within the cylindrical flange a'. The needle-valve b is provided with a springarm b', by means of which it may be readily moved and which is bent to the outline of the exterior of the lamp and frictionally engages the same, so as to hold the valve b wherever set. The outer or forward end of the cylinder a is closed by means of a concave web or plate c, that is either formed with a reflector on its face or covered with a removable concave reflector, (indicated at c',) but preferably provided with both, for reasons which will be hereinafter noted. The axis of this reflector or of the reflectors extends concentric to the axis of the cylinder ct and approximately in a horizontal direction, although this might of course be considerably varied. The concave plate c is provided at its center or axis with a perforated forwardly-projecting nipple c2, provided With a gas-burner c3. The

.perforated nipple c2 and burner c3 are so con structed that the gas which is forced therethrough and the burning flame therefrom will be projected forward approximately on the line of the axis of the reiiector. The importance of this construction will be given further attention laterl on. It may be here noted that the passage through the nipple c2 opens directly from an inwardly-projecting cap c4, provided with a multiplicity of capillary perforations c5 in its peripheral wall.

d indicates a clamping ring which has screw-threaded engagement with the outer and forward margin of the section a and is provided with an inturned flange which overlaps the edge of the reflector c and removably secures the same.

The ring d carries a skeleton guard, formed by intersecting wires d', which are bent so as to protect the flame from the burner c3 and to complete the spherical form of the lamp.

d2 indicates colored signal-buttons, preferably of blue or red glass, which are secured in the skeleton frame, one on each side of the burner.

The rear end of the cylinder cr is normally IOO.

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closed by means of' an end piece f, which completes the spherical form of the rear portion of the lamp, and is provided with an inwardlyprojecting flange f', that hasscrew-threaded engagement with the rear margin of said cylinder d. A gasket or packing ring f2 is mounted in a suitable seat in the sectionf, outward of the flange f', and en gageable with the end of the portion which connects the sections d and d. At its central portion the section f is provided with a rearwardly-project ing screw-threaded nipple f3, in which a ball socket or seat is formed.

g indicates a stem which is provided at one end with a ball g@ which is held in its seat within the nipple f3 by means of a perforated cap g2 and screw-threaded onto said nipple f3. The other end of the stem g is secured to the frame of the bicycle in any suitable way.

The generating-chamber 7z,it will be noted,is formed within the cylinder a between the concave front wall c and the rear section f. This carbid-holder, as shown, consists of two parts made up of alternate layers of perforated thin metal and absorbent material extending over or approximately over the entire holder.` I preferably place the perforated metal portions in direct contact with the carbid and surround the same with absorbent material.

k and k indicate a pair of telescopicallyengageable metal cups or sections which are perforated over their entire surfaces.

k2 indicates a third cup-like section which is perforated over its entire surface. This section 702 telescopes over the sections 7.: and 7c.

k3 indicates cloth or other absorbent material which is placed between the ends of the sections lc and k2 and the cylindrical sides of the sections 7c' and 7a2.

7a4 indicates a disk of cloth or other absorbent material which is pressed against the perforate end of the section 7a', as shown, by means of a metallic disk n engaging the same and the coiled springn, compressed between said disk n and the rear end section f.

z indicates Water contained in the annular water compartment or chamber a2, and z indicates carbid contained within the carbid holder. The carbid does not need to be granulated, but should be finely broken. It will be noted that in the operative positions of the parts the lower peripheral portion of the carbid-holder stands directly over and in close contact with the feed-water passage a8.

By means of the ball-and-socket joint the lamp may be adjusted at any angle or turned in any position within, of course, its possible limit of movement permitted by the joint, and when the nut g2 is tightened the lamp will be securely held wherever set.

To open up the generating-chamber, the

v lamp may be turned bodily, so as to unscrew the body of the same from the relatively-fixed section f. This of course gives ready access to the interior of the generating-chamber, so that the carbid holder may be removed, cleaned, refilled, and replaced in working position. The body of the lamp is of course secured to the section h by turning the same in reverse direction from that required to remove it.

The generating action isstarted by moving the valve l) by means of the arm b in the proper direction to open up the water-feed passage d8. As atmospherical pressure is rendered effective within the water-compartment a2, the water will be fed into the generatingchamber under a pressure equal to that of the column of Water itself. The water which is fed into the generating-chamber willcome almost instantly into contact with the absorbent material and by the latter will, under the action of capillary attraction,beconducted completely around the carbid in the holder.. When the generation is started, small particles only of the carbid and absorbent material will be in direct contact; but as the generating action proceeds the decomposed products will fill the perforations of the metallic sections, and thus greatly increase the direct contact between the absorbent material and the contents of the holder. In this manner of giving increased contact between the absorbent material and the products of decomposition the increased resistance which the water finds in reaching the carbid through the lime products is nearly or quite offset or compensated for by the increased direct contact between said lime products and the absorbent material. The gas which is generated finds a ready escape through the perforations c5 of the cap c4, and thence through the nipple c2 and burner c3. The perforated cap c4 will prevent any water which might possibly by some contingency collect a considerable quantity within the generating-chamber from being thrown into the nipple c2 or burner c3 under the vibrating movement of the bicycle. By projecting the flame on the axis of the reliector from a burner located at its center almost the entire reflecting-surface of the reflector is rendered effective, while with an ordinary vertically-projected flame a large portion of the reflected rays are cut off or absorbed by the llame itself. I have also determined by experiment that a gas-flame will stand a much stronger Wind when projected IIC directly against the same than it will when turnedsidewiseofthesame. The Ilamewhich is turned sidewise or projected at approximately a right angle to the wind seems to be extinguished, as if cut o. Furthermore, when the lamp is advanced rapidly in the direction of the axis of the reflector the wind which is caught by the concavity of the reflector seems to meet in a vortex near the burner, and thus either to rebound or to resist the reverse force of the wind. The reflector must,therefore,be imperforate or practically imperforate, inasmuch as perforations therein of any substantial size would permit a back draft through the reflector. Any material back draft through the reflector would turn the flame backward under the advance movement of the lamp and would either blow the same out or render the lamp inefficient.

The above features make the lamp especially adapted for use on a bicycle. I have demonstrated that the lamp can be run at a highest possible bicycle speed with the burner unprotected or exposed, as shown, and even Without the use of the skeleton guard, which, as a matter fact, is used more to prevent a person from burning his hand or clothes than for any other purpose.

It Will of course be understood that the features of construction above noted are capable of a very large range of variation.

WhatI claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as follows:

A portable gas-lamp, adapted for bicycle ALVIN L. BUFFINGTON.

Viitnesses:

F. D. MERCHANT, MM. MCGRORY. 

